Last May, Ell & Nikki, an obscure duo from Azerbaijan, won the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest. The country’s President, Ilham Aliyev, treated the musical win like a military triumph, describing it as “a victory for the people …

Rambo Amadeus, who describes himself as “one of the most prominent cult figures on the ex-Yugoslav music scene,” made a name for himself as a musical freedom fighter. In 1989, with the communists still pulling the strings in …

Critics deride the Eurovision Song Contest as a cultural Chernobyl where sex appeal has more value than musical ability. There’s some truth in that. In recent years contestants have danced salaciously in giant hamster wheels …

In the opening bars of “Be My Guest” — Ukraine’s entry for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest — the Ukrainian surma horn suggests that something highly traditional is about to unfold. Within 15 seconds, however, strains of …

Paradise Lost – Minivan News, an independent news source for the Maldives, has the latest on riots by supporters of former president Mohamed Nasheed, who resigned Tuesday in what increasingly looks like a military coup. The …

The last time I was in Ireland, the country teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. Its political leaders had already been written off as dead men walking (a little unfair to zombies, who are at least capable of inspiring fear if not respect), and its populace was mired in despair. Many Irish expressed the fear that their nation was heading …